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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Annie’s Mailbox: Request by bosses for daily selfie creepy

Marcy Sugar and Kathy Mitchell Creators Syndicate

Dear Annie: I’m 18 years old. I work two jobs to save money for college next year, one during the week and the other at a coffee shop on the weekends. Last week, my boss from the coffee shop sent an email to all employees saying that we are now required to take a daily picture of ourselves on a work camera. At the end of the month, the owners (a husband and wife) will judge who is the best dressed and give the winner a $100 gift certificate.

Annie, all of the workers at this shop are high school and college-age females. This makes us uncomfortable, but we are afraid of losing our jobs. There already are video cameras that send black-and-white images directly to the boss’s office. My parents said that they’d be supportive of whatever I decide. I really like and need this job. Yesterday, I dressed very well, but didn’t take a picture. Five minutes ago, I received an email reminding me that the pictures are mandatory. What do I do? – Confused Employee

Dear Confused: We suspect your employers think this is an incentive for you and your co-workers to dress better. While the photographs don’t seem discriminatory, they do appear to be an unreasonable requirement for employment. Your best bet is to get together with the other employees and talk to your bosses. Let them know that you are uncomfortable with this new demand and ask whether they can find another way of getting the preferred results (like an enforced dress code).

Annie’s Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Please email your questions to anniesmailbox @comcast.net, or write to: Annie’s Mailbox, in care of Creators Syndicate, 737 Third St., Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. To find out more about Annie’s Mailbox, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.